enjoyable book built around the Nobel Prize and the six laureates, their lives and the drama surrounding their selection and reception of the award.
Very lengthy book,pages, but a delightful read,Star for research
Star for plot Novelist Andrew Craig has not been sober in a very long time.
After losing his wife in an auto accident he believes to have been his own fault, he turned to the bottle, and to his sisterinlaw, Leah, who acts as his caretaker and livein nurse.
Then, when he is awarded the Nobel Prize in literature for his novel, "The Perfect State," a historical jab at communism, he heads for Stockholm, hoping to find a reason to live, and to write.
The other laureates have their own problems, a heart surgeon who believes that sharing his award with an Italian colleague robs him of his glory, a married couple awarded the prize in medicine in the middle of a serious marital crisis, and others including Max Stratman, whose heart isn't really up to the trip, but who needs the prize money to provide for niece, Emily.
This novel delves into the lives, loves, dreams and nightmares of these characters, and others, building a panoramic view of the Nobel Prize, life in Stockholm, and the state of world politics in the years following World War II.
It is rich, and compelling, driving the reader from the pits of despair to the heights of inspiration.
A wonderful novel by one of America's finest novelists, The Prize was made into a movie starring Paul Newman, Im reading it now. I read it before in the early seventies, Was forgotten all about it except that I liked it at that time, Because I want te recommend it to someone I thought to read it at first again myself.
Am approaching the half of the book now,
Did I ever read the book for sure I have difficulties with the english now, Did I understand it reading it fifty years ago I wonder, What did I pick up from it then No idea,
Anyhow I enjoy reading it now, I have to laugh about the persons, especially Andrew Craig, the writer, how he is behaving and how his sister in law is worrying.
Four persons came to Stockholm for their Nobel Price, They all bring their life stories in,
I think its a clever book,
Irving Wallace's novel about the Nobel Prize was thebestselling book in, It took him over a decade to research and write, Unfortunately his research lays too heavily within the story and made the book overly long,
I could say that I got quite an education about the prizes but I would rather have looked all that up on Wikipedia and then enjoyed the story.
Of course, Wikipedia did not exist in,
By following the stories of six fictional Nobel winners, their associated wives or relatives, and some members of the Academy, he wove a pretty good tale.
Each winner, whether scientist or writer, comes to Stockholm
for Nobel week with personal baggage, vulnerable in different ways to the politics of the Nobel committees, to the press, and even to the world events of the times.
Though Wallace's characters are as much types as they are people, he gives each enough substance so that the reader becomes involved and participates emotionally in their changes.
Of course, there are various romances spiced up with explicit sex apparently Wallace is famous for that but to his credit he makes of sex something seamless with the rest of life rather than sensational.
He is clearly not in agreement with Puritanical views about its evilness,
Whenever he wrote about the trials and activities of the characters the story raced along.
The historical bits, the travelogue style about visits to Stockholm's landmarks, and his descriptions of architecture, furnishings, restaurant meals and routes through the city were beyond boring.
Unless you like that sort of thing, skimming is recommended,
In the end, he presents a balanced picture of the behind the scenes selections of the winners, the idiocy of such awards, as well as the positive effects on both the world and the winners due to recognition of great scientific work and literature.
I think the prize itself has been overshadowed by the many pop culture awards we have now, but I was still thrilled in recent years when Toni Morrison and Doris Lessing won.
For me, the book was worth the read, Picked it up at a used book store,
Atplus pages quite a challenge completing,
Condensed draft of this novel would have garnered a higher rating, The best of the author, Deals about the Noble Prize winners and the changes that take place in their lives during the Noble week when they all arrive to Stockholm to receive their prizes.
Incredible writing of Irving Wallace can be seen when one reads this book, But this was a bit lengthy book containing aroundpages, Ya lo he leído comoveces, pero tenía rato que no lo hacía, me gusta mucho, creo que es una obra muy buena de un escritor un poco mediocre, vale la pena.
Muy entretenido. Y contiene muchísimas anécdotas de los ganadores del Nobel y entretelones del premio, Recomendable. Aunque dure un año para poder terminar el libro, tiene que ver más con que solo fueroncapítulos enhojas por lo que la inversión de tiempo para sentarse, tomar el libro, y leer un capítulo era el problema para seguir leyendo.
Si eso fuera el unico problema del libro seria un clasico que todos deberian de leer, pero no lo es.
la verdad es que irving wallace crea personajes que disfrutas leer y tiene un ritmo al escribir que aunque sean muchas hojas cuando en verdad estas leyendo pasan las hojas de forma muy rapido, esos son sus grandes pros pero tambien tiene mucho en contra.
la verdad es que el libro si es de su tiempo fue publicado enlos hombres tienen ambicion, errores y aciertos durante el libro completo, pero las mujeres en lo general solo estan ahi para alentar, castigar, enamorar, festejar y hacer todo para el hombre de su vida.
el peor caso de esto es el personaje ganador del nobel por literatura Andrew Craig, dado el premio que recibe y siendo esta novela, pasamos mucho mas tiempo con el y con las diferentes mujeres que pasan por su vida durante la semana del nobel, una mujer trata de atraparlo y tenerlo para ella, otra mujer debe salvarlo de si mismo y darle satisfaccion sexual para que el se pueda recuperar, una mujer quiere atraparlo y usarlo su genio para continuar su carrera, y una mujer "virginal" se enamora de el y debe ser rescatada por el, justo antes de recibir el premio nobel.
podria recomendar de forma más plena este libro a pesar de los descrito con anterioridad pues si esta muy bien escrito este libro pero luego leí las últimoshojas y adicionalmente a lo dicho con anterioridad todavía debemos agregar una parte estilo James Bond que solo podrá ser solucionado por el ingenio y la inteligencia del gran ganador del premio nobel.
.